


The Door

by Saltypony



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Demon Matsukawa Issei, Dont like creepy stuff dont read, Hanamakis parents, Horror, Human Hanamaki Takahiro, M/M, POV Hanamaki Takahiro, for now, hana-mama and hana-papa behave, iwa and oiks will appear in later chapters, murders, open for suggestions on ending, tried my best lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:55:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltypony/pseuds/Saltypony
Summary: He remembers claws and words that made his legs give out. He remembers feathers with hands adorned with embellishments that seem to have erased the memory of itself.And the stenchThe stench of something that has been imprisoned for hundreds of years.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei
Comments: 11
Kudos: 10





	1. The door

**Author's Note:**

> This is heavily inspired by Creepypodden, its a Swedish podcast created in 2015. Each episode is published every other Monday 00.01. The pod is led by Jack Werner and contains one or more ghost stories or creepypastas read by Jack Werner or one of his colleagues. The Podcast is one of Swedens most popular.
> 
> The Story is once again, heavily, heavily inspired by one of their older episodes and one of my favorites, I love this podcast and I’ve listened to all their episodes multiple times and I get goosebumps and have to check that I’m really alone every once in a while so a lot of the plot/text for the first chapter will be taken from the podcast and all the credit goes to them, I’m just switching up the characters and plotline a little bit and adding/removing stuff to fit what i want. I sincerely hope I can keep the creepy feeling this story gives off on its own. And I Guess I’m translating it from Swedish to English, restructuring the sentances and changing the POV.. so that’s on me I guess… and remember the story originated in sweden so some things like the school might be a bit strange!-  
> Enough shit chat lets go!
> 
> Story : Jack Werner, Creepypodden
> 
> And the characters belong to haruichi furudate

Hanamaki didn’t consider himself a nosy person, at least no more than the average person. His mother however likes to call him ‘unhealthy curious’. He was the type of child to climb to the top of the old oak tree only to see what was inside the old bird’s nest. He was the child who dug a deep hole deep enough for his pants to get wet because he’d reach the groundwater, only because he was sure that there was a cave there, right under his family’s house.

His parents weren’t broke but the weren’t rich either, they were the type who works 40 hours a week and would continue working their entire lives and still not have enough for a sufficient pension.

Hanamaki himself got his first job at a stable when he was 14, it didn’t work for long but he needed more money than his parents could give him so he keept working there until he graduated high school. His dad was constantly on him to go to collage, no one in his family had gotten a higher education so it was important for his dad that he’d go.

Hanamaki had never been ambiguous with his studies in high school, preferring to hang out with his friends and play volleyball instead and got D’s and C’s in the most of his classes. That was enough to get into a local collage and study mostly math and science. There it was a whole other thing to study, no one forced his to participate and all the responsibility fell on him and that made him get his stuff together, his dad was so proud of him, but because he and his mom couldn’t afford to pay for him he had to get an extra job. One day Hanamakis collage announced an assistant job for the schools janitor, he applied for the position and got the job. It was nothing complicated, he was a handy person and the biggest problems he faced were fixed with rust oil and insulation tape.

But with the job came the task to stay and guard the school over night, those nights were a whole other thing. Those nights gave him superpowers. He worked evenings, weekends and during the week when the majority of the student body were free. The night shift consisted of him going around campus patrolling two times per night. He worked with two other guys, they had the other shifts and they didn’t see each other that often. One of the guys, Tado, a boy around Hanamaiks age, worked mostly days and the other one, an old man who balanced at the edge of retiring, Youkai, who sometimes helped out. Tado wanted to be a police officer and took his job very seriously while Youkai sleept for the most part. But Hanamaki and Tado treated the tired old man to that. On Wednesdays they held meetings to discuss the past week. During his time working the night shift he often finished his rounds rather quickly which left him with a lot of freetime to spend all by himself.  
Well that with superpowers wasn’t really true, what he was referring to was the giant keychain. Before his first shift, Youkai had given it to him. A heavy bundle of a million keys that almost weighed 2,5 kilos and he carried it looped through his belt. He had to tighten his belt a lot more because of this, sure the building was empty when he was working but it would still be embarrassing to have the heavy bundle of iron and gravity pull his pants down.

“Careful boy, don’t lose the chain now. With that you can open every single door in this school, and the door you can’t open you probably don’t want to open either” Youkai had told him, Hanamaki had raised his hand in a mock salute and had reassured him that he would protect the keys with his life. 

What made the long weeks pass, especially when everyone was home and he was alone in the big dark buildings was to explore. He made it into a mission to every night open at least open one new door he’d never opened before. 

He started in the new buildings, with the computer rooms and libraries and opened every door, every single storage door and mentally made a map of the place in his head. Some nights he had time to thoroughly go through two-three rooms and some nights he only had time to open a storage door on the way.  
The school building itself is very large in comparison to the amount of students who are attending, only 1300 people in the entire building complex. It was built as a factory in the middle of the1800’s and was first renovated into a school in the 1870’s. The school is divided into three parts, first the old wing where the teacher administration was located, as well as the principles office and a number of unpleasant classrooms without both central heat and proper ventilation. The wing with the labs and the computer rooms was newly built and made of cement and with tiny windows which was added in the 70's when everything was supposed to look like Soviet razors. Last but not lease was what was called the New Library which might have been new in the 90’s but now looked quite outdated with its oversized glass surfaces. 

During Hanamaki’s last semester in december, he had managed every one of the rooms in the new library. He’d opened every door and looked around inside, not one single storage closet had been missed and that gave him a fairly comprehensive map inside his head.

When the joy of exploring had gone down remained quite a boring place. He hadn’t found any treasures that he’d dreamed of or stumbled over a pile of forgotten computers. The only thing he found was a sweaty pile of porn magazines in one of the storage closets, ‘naught naughty girls’. But hey who was he to come here and point a moral compass.

December is often a gloomy time in collage, after the crazy weeks leading up to the last exams its like a bomb has been dropped when the building suddenly empties of people except for some confused workers who wandered the halls crouching in the corridors.  
The buildings stood empty through the cold and dark nights, now and then there was snow mixed with rain that aggressively drummed against the windows but otherwise not even the weather was particularly bad. Hanamaki salted some sidewalks and shoveled some half melted snow but could otherwise keep inside. He still had the old wing left to explore. 

The old wing is a V shaped building with four floors without an elevator and with small and narrow staircases and because of its history had been code marked without such luxuries such as central heating. Instead of that they used a gigantic boiler room in the basement that he thinks was taken care of by Youkai and only Youkai. If so the old man had done a very good job since not once in Hanamaki’s time at the collage heard anyone complain.  
Hanamaki spent the weeks after the exams exploring the old wing’s higher floors. Even if the snow sometimes forced him to prioritize shoveling snow instead of exploring, he still made progress. He found a small room up in the attic which must’ve belonged to some foreman in the old factory, complete with an old desk and a dresser. In hope to find a present to the current principal, he searched through the whole room but only found old tax papers from the 50’s, some old newspaper letters which fell apart in his hands and a moth eaten scarf in the old dresser.

He found a few dozen small and empty offices and work rooms under the attic on the fourth floor. As the true janitor he was, Hanamaki routinely checked that all the windows were intact and still attached to the walls and if there was any water- or pest damages anywhere. Despite having expected at least some rat poop he was surprised to not find a single animal- or animal waste there.  
Floor three and two were pretty much the exact same story except the rooms along one of the buildings shorter sides where there was air conditioning and was used as classrooms during the semester.

Finally the last floor. It belonged to the school administration department and that’s where the principal had their office, Hanamaki of course took this golden opportunity and went looking through all the drawers he could find in the principals office and in the HR department, but was very disappointed to find nothing, nothing at all.

The ony thing left to explore now was the basement and the boiler room, he used his superpower, the giant keychain to open the heavy door and went down the stairs. The basement was different from the basement in the new library, it was much more cramped in here. The hallways were small and narrow and the ceiling hung low, at least for Hanamaki. Now and then a door would appear and he entered them all. The old light switches, bone-white, sprung buds on yellowing old frames reminded him of movies from the 50’s. He had with him a pack of low energy lightbulbs if he needed to switch something, then and again he’d come across something where he needed to shine light on some corner where some old lamp had been god know how many years ago, other wise the rooms were mostly full of old junk that was lit up by old naked lightbulbs in the ceiling. Leftover desks, old outdated maps and other junk the school wasn’t using.

It might be worth pointing out that while other might have been creeped out, nervous or scared at the though of wandering the old school basement alone at night, Hanamaki had never been. Never once when he was wandering the empty halls had he had even the slightest chill run down his spine or bad feeling about opening a new door. He didn’t have that much creativity, this was his workplace and hobby and it only felt exiting sneaking around in the dark corridors.

When the evening fell December the 20th had Hanamaki grazed all the rooms up to the boiler room. The boiler itself was a monster made of iron, rivets and pipes. It was almost unbearably hot in there at just as noisy, but clean, Youkai had clearly made an effort in keeping the machine in shape. As he said:

“Tidy boilers don’t disturb my nap”

He hadn’t planned on doing anything more than quickly reviewing the room and then heading back up stairs because he’s been there over a dozen times and he knew that for except for the worktable and boiler there was not much to see.

But then he noted a small door hidden on the left behind the boiler itself.  
‘that was weird’ he though to himself. He’d never seen it before, but on the other hand maybe he’d never stood there on that exact place and if he was honest he’d never really looked closely at the room. The door was smaller than the other doors in the building, maybe one and a half meter tall and painted in the same shade of grey-brown as the rest of the walls and made of metal like the rest of the doors in the basement.

He walked forward at pressed down on the doorhandle, people often say that the human body often times feel when something is wrong, they describe a feeling of suddenly feeling watched when you know you are alone, you know no one can see you but you still feel how eyes graze you. Sometimes you even choose to turn right instead of left because you get that feeling and your body takes over and deicides ‘no, no, there is someone there who doesn’t want me there’ but Hanamaki doesn’t belive in that, because he didn’t get that feeling when he put his hand on the door handle, nothing in him sounded the alarm, no headache, no hair standing on edge, no inner voice shouting at him ‘No don’t do it!’ nothing.

The handle went down compliantly down but the door was locked. He looked closer and found a small keyhole, his superpower keychain only contained three possible candidates, the two first didn’t work but the third one went in. the hinges screamed as if they hadn’t been used for decades when the door slid opened. Somewhere in Hanamaki’s janitor brain, he made a mental note and mumbled;

“rust oilj”

When he took a step through the door it was into a tiny and narrow space, the light switch was working but the lightbulb lit up only to explode and he had to admit that his heart did stop for a moment there. He unscrewed the old now destroyed lightbulb, holding his flash light with his mouth, he installed a new one and looked around. He was in a hall that turned into a hallway a few meters away and turned into another door, this door only required him to lightly push it for it to glide opened and showed a staircase that led further down.  
“What the hell”  
No one had ever told him this building had more than one basement. His pulse had not yet gone down but he brushed it of as shock from the blast. The staircase looked like the rest of the old buildings stairs and well down there he noticed another door, after having opened that door without a key he was faced with a long and narrow hallway with regularly perishing doors on either side. He found himself being just a little bit nervous. He was alone in the school and had found himself a unexplainable basement that feel weird and un-logical.  
In the end of the hallway he encountered another door and behind that another staircase leading downward. Hanamaki was by that time convinced that that door would lead to a staircase leading back up to the old wing and was there for absolutely stunned, even a little scared when it turned out to go down. Then and there he actually got a bit scared wondering why in hell it only went downward.  
“Why would anyone want to be down here?”

Here

Here

Here 

Echoed the stairs in response. He should’ve checked the time, he should’ve focused on finishing his round, he should’ve turned around and walked- no escaped but instead he continued walking down the stairs. The stairs wasn’t illuminated by any lamps and was seemingly much older and in much worse shape than the others. It was also longer, much longer.  
After walking for some minuets he started counting the steps, every twelfth step there was a little platform and then the stairs continued in the opposite direction. He reached another door after walking down 10 of those platforms, it was unlocked and easy to open but the hinges screamed and it was eerie to hear the echo fade away in the stairs behind him. He groped in vain along the wall beside the door looking for a light switch. After not finding one he waved his flashlight around the room to get an overview of what’s in front of him but there was nothing there, neither in front of him, to the sider nor the ceiling. Hanamaki snapped his fingers in the room but wasn’t sure if he heard and echo or not and slowly he started to realise that the room he was standing in was gigantic, like a cave, maybe even the biggest room he’d ever been in, it was much larger than any volleyball stadium he’d even played in and it suddenly made him feel really small. instinctively he crawled back into the doorway for a second.

“This room shouldn’t be here” 

His whisper was quickly lost in the room but he paid no mind. It felt increasingly more tempting to just turn around and walk back but he was so deathly curious of what was inside. He slowly took a step forward, and then another one, and another one, he had soon forced himself to walk in a steady tempo straight into the darkness. Hanamaki counted his steps and regularly turned around to navigate with the help of the light from the now open door. By doing that he made it 100 meters, then 200, and just as the room was starting to feel infinite he saw a stream of light coming from forward. The light shone stronger and stronger the closer to it he got, but if he counted correctly he walked another 500 meters before he saw the lonely lightbulb hanging by the side of a door.

This door was completely different from all the other door he’d encountered. It was at least twice his height and as wide as a mote. It looked to be made of black metal covered in large rivets and bolts and hung on huge hinges made of steal. A few centimeters about his head, engraved in the metal were big signs he didn’t understand. Around the big signs were smaller signs and wide pie charts that were cut by the giant circles engraved in the door. Right in front of him was a large wheel, like those on submarines or those on a bank vault. There was a keyhole in the middle of the wheel, it was adorned with a sigilli of three layers of circles.

Hanamaki turned around and realised that he could no longer see the light from the staircase and opened door. He saw nothing behind him but he still picked up the keychain and held it up to the light. He went through the keys and found a very small and very worn key that could work. The key entered the keyhole smoothly and twisted just as well. He heard a click, a thump and a dry clatter that sounded like small stones poured into a glass. He pulled out the key, took a hold of the wheel and hesitated, his heart was now beating 180 and cold sweat was pouring down his back, it was the weirdest situation he’d ever experienced in his life. The giant room that seemed to big to fit under the school, the completely incomprehensible door that looked like something from game of thrones, nothing made sense. But he had made it this far, if he didn’t get to see what was on the other side of this door he’d never forgive himself, so he started turning the wheel left, counterclockwise until it hit some kind of barrier and some thumping could be heard inside the door. 

Silence.

With a jerk he noticed that the darkness behind him no longer felt empty, he felt as if he had a whole audience staring holes into his back and watching his every move. He stumbled back a bit and waved the flashlight around but didn’t see anything. Only dry, empty floors. Turning back to the door he grabbed the giant handle and pulled, the door didn’t move an inch. Hanamaki pulled with everything he had, he leaned back so all his weight pulled down in the hand pulling the door. Finally, when he was about to give up, the door gave another high creak and started to slowly slide opened.

A gust of stinking ice cold wind blew over him, the air was heavy humid and musky. It gave Hanamaki a flashback of when he was little and his mother took him to the zoo and they walked into the part with the reptiles and snakes. He let go of the door and took a step back to be able to light up the darkness from a comfortable distance. Inside was a small hall the led into a room that was so small that he saw the other wall from where he stood. He saw a dirty and rust chair made out of metal.

He saw bones..

He remembers seeing, or hearing, or smelling a figure that was so black it seemed to suck in to light from his flashllight. It came towards him. With inhuman speed it came rushing towards him like a tsunami, taking up almost all the space in the small hallway as it screamed, laughed and babbled with a voice that sounded like mountain walls collapsing.

He remembers claws and words that made his legs give out. He remembers feathers with hands adorned with embellishments that seem to have erased the memory of itself.

And the stench

The stench of something that has been imprisoned for hundreds of years. 

He remembers wings. He thinks he turned around by then but he doesn’t know for how long he stumbled around blindly under hundreds of meters of ground. There was no light, he didn’t have a way to count the time. His flashlight was dead and so was his phone, even the luminous minute hands on his watch had stopped glowing.

Something was wrong with his right leg, it hurt but he couldn’t see what . The entire time he could hear his audience, together with him in the incomprehensibly big and cave like room. He screamed at the to go away he swung his fists around in the air but the his screams got stuck in his throat when he felt one of them touching his face. He threw his flash light after that but he heard it make contact with the stone floor, roll a bit then go silent. 

Then he heard someone laugh.

He thinks that’s when he started to cry,  
he didn’t have anything more to throw at them.

After crawling for what felt like months, he found the door to the staircase. It was dark, the lightbulbs were broken, leaving shattered glass all over the stairs. He tore up his fingers on the broken glass as he crawled up the long, long staircase.  
He reached the hallway where he could crawl out through the last door and into the boiler room and when he finally stumbled out of the old wing, 2 whole days since he’d gone in, he was meet by grey weather and the schoolyard full of police cars.

5 people had been found dead on and around the campus. They had all been violently slaughtered, body’s torn to shreds and their organs missing. Teeth marks hinted that the whole thing had been done by wild animals but the murder scenes and how the bodys had been left displayed intelligence. In addition, they believed that the cuts were some sort of symbol. Symbols cut into the victims while they were still alive. The policemen where however very quiet about what the symbols were, they also didn’t want to talk to Hanamaki. At first they wanted to talk to him when he came stumbling covered in blood because they though he was the killer, but when the doctor on site pointed out that he had a broken footbone, was dehydrated, had a concussion and was in shock the changed their minds. They asked some questions which he answered to the best of his ability, he told them anout the door in the boiler room but they never found it. They showed him pictures of the bare and flat wall where he had entered and 48 hours later crawled out. His bloody trial had ended by that wall,the police had even started to tear the wall down but stopped when they only encountered old bricks and after that even older dirt. The last thing they asked was where the black feathers that stuck to his bloody clothes came from, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.

Neither the police, the ambulance people, the doctor or any other person for that matter met his gaze, they looked down or to the side when they spoke to him, everywhere else they could look except his face. The big cuts, the big deep cuts, the wide tears across his forehead was more than anyone wanted to see.

He was marked. Whatever it was he had let out, whatever had killed and ate 5 people and another 6 within the next week, whatever that was had marked him as a friend.


	2. Grey box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious grey box filled with profieroles keeps appearing on Hanamaki's doorstep. He's got a stalker. Fun.
> 
> In the end things turned out much better than He could've hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could just keep editing this chapter forever but I'm finally kinda happy with it so here it is :)
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been years since the incident but Hanamaki still remembers it like it happened yesterday. The events had taken place so close to the end of his last semester that Hanamaki’s teachers had set his grades for him then and there and allowed him to ‘graduate early’, that’s what they told the rest of the school anyway. In reality, Hanamaki was in the hospital being treated for severe dehydration, a broken foot bone and one hell of a concussion. And of course, he can’t forget no matter how much he tries, the scars across his forehead. Even after the doctors did everything in their power to minimize the scarring, it was still quite bad. The huge ugly jagged lines.

Everything from the sound to the smell had burned itself into his memory, even now when he’s 24, he still wakes up some nights in a cold sweat after a nightmare. He sometimes thinks he sees things moving in his peripheral vision, his therapist told him that’s just his mind being paranoid but sometimes he can't help but doubt that. It looks like creatures moving in the shadows. It took the better part of the year after he got out of the hospital for him to even be able to stay calm in a completely dark room by himself or be able to walk outside without looking over his shoulder every five steps, after all, if he’d kept track of where the door out was maybe he wouldn’t have been stuck down there for two days.

It's all thanks to his parents that he’s made such a recovery and is now able to live a semi-normal life, though he still has some issues he needs to work out. The incident also brought him, his mother and his father even closer than before, he visits and calls them as often as he can.

On most days he just thows on a hat or some sort of headwear to cover the scars. He had even considered covering them with make-up or plastic surgery on quite a few occasions but each time the same thought crossed his mind;

It marked him as a friend, it had marked him so it wouldn’t kill him. What if he encountered the monster and the scars saved his life?

And so far it’s stopped him, that fear of meeting the creature he let out all those years ago. The creature who within a week of being released back into the world had killed 11 people and had presumably eaten their organs. Hanamaki knew all of their names, that was the only thing he felt guilty about, the lives of which were doomed as soon as he opened that door. They had so much to live for, but that monster had killed them, it didn’t even have the empathy to end them quickly either, many of the injuries were inflicted post mortem.

The news had also been awfully quiet about the murders, the newspaper had stated that there were a total of 11 victims, no suspect and no leads, nothing more. Nothing about how the victims died, nothing about what the police was doing and nothing about Hanamaki.

That was the most shocking thing of all, nothing about him. Nothing about the teenager that had stumbled out of drywall on the brink of collapsing and deep cuts across his face, nothing. 

He told his parents, told them about the door behind the boiler and the stairs leading down, he told them about that the ancient door and the creature he had let out, he told them about what the police had told him and what he experienced. He saw no point in lying or sugar-coating anything, even if it did break his parents' hearts it was better if they knew the truth, or most of it anyway.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a quiet Tuesday and Hanamaki was currently walking towards his favourite café. It was nothing new nor fancy but the place had this kind of homey feel to it that he loved.

He walked through the door and heard the familiar ‘cling’ of the bell. He returned the person at the counters greeting and went to order his favourite, profiteroles. His mouth watered just thinking about those glorious, glorious profiteroles. 

“The usual?” the waiter asked. Hanamaki nodded and the waiter disappeared to go and get those newly baked goodies. He visits so often that the entire staff knew him by name and knew his preferences. 

He sat down at a table near the entrance to wait, pulling out his phone he started scrolling through Instagram. Pictures of Oikawa and Iwaizumi showed up. He spent his time messing with both of them, they had gotten together recently after being friends for years and he just couldn’t resist it.

“Your profiteroles”

A voice broke his train of thought. It was a new voice, he’d never heard it before. Must be a new worker. He turned his head and looked at the person, he was tall, maybe even taller than Hanamaki, he had dark hair and thick eyebrows. He didn’t have enough time to get a better look at him though. The stranger sat his plate of profiteroles down on the table and quickly walked away, mumbling a hurried ‘enjoy your desserts’ as he speed-walked away from Hanamaki.

Hanamaki sniffed the air around him to see if he smelled but if he didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. He turned his head to look at the stranger but didn’t see him, well the world is full of weird people. He shrugged and continued eating and scrolling through his phone. Completely unaware of the stranger who was sobbing his eyes out of the staff-only restroom...

Thursday rolled around and Hanamaki was just about to leave for work, he opened his front door and almost went down in a split to avoid stepping on something that was conveniently placed just outside his door. After recovering from his almost fall and definitely pulled a muscle, he turned and saw a grey box. He picked up the box and walked back inside, work be damned this needed investigating. 

He placed the box on his kitchen table and opened it. 5 newly baked profiteroles packed in grey tissue paper matching the box, it was clear that whoever packaged it packaged it with much care. He carefully removed the desserts and emptied the box of all its contents searching for a note. Nothing.

What

The

Fuc-

…..

What

How

Why?

Who? 

He had so many questions. He quickly stuffed the profiteroles into his mouth and ran out the door, he was going to be late to work if he didn’t hurry.

Hanamaki somehow managed to do his job properly even with all the questions swimming around in his head all day. He was also in a good mood, probably had something to do with the delicious profiteroles. They tasted exactly like the ones from his favourite café, maybe they came from there?

Ehh free food is free food.

Then, a thought struck him

What if they were poisonous. He had just shoved them into his mouth without thinking, damn his love for profiteroles- well if they were deadly he’d be dead already, it’s been like what? 8 hours? Yeah, he’d be dead… 

Almost a week had passed when the next grey box appeared in front of his door, and he once again almost did a split trying to avoid it. He turned around glaring accusatory at the cause of his suffering. He did the same thing as he did when the last mystery box appeared, searched for a note, found none, and then ate the profiteroles.

This routine continued for several weeks, the boxes appearing on his doorstep more and more frequently. After roughly a month of this he decided to tape a note to his door, the note lead;

Dear kind stranger who has been giving me profiteroles,

While I greatly appreciate the very kind gesture and am not complaining at all I cannot help but wonder why someone would leave desserts on somebody else’s doorstep, so if you don’t mind me asking.

Why?

The writing made him sound like an old man, he blamed it on the crime documentaries he’d been watching lately. He folded the note in half, hesitates for a second, then drew a grey box on the front of the now-folded note before sticking it on his door.

And there the note sits for almost the whole week. He’s just exited the elevator when he once again sees the grey box waiting for him just outside his door. He quickly walks over and picks it up, looking both left and right for the culprit but as usual, no one.

He unlocks the door and lets himself in. He balances the grey box in one hand while he tries to lock the door behind him and kick off his shoes.

Hanamaki sits down on one of the kitchen chairs and opens the box, expecting to find yet another 5 profiteroles, he does a doubletake when he sees a cyan-blue sticky-note carefully folded and placed under the desserts. He quickly eats the sweets and picks up the note, his curiosity was almost killing him, it was almost as bad as it was that night in the giant room.

He shivers at the thought of it, he unfolds the note and starts to read;

Hi,

Well, you’re technically not a stranger seeing as I know who you are, don’t worry I mean no harm. I guessed that you liked profiteroles and started leaving them on your doorstep as an apology.

//.I.

Well, that answered absolutely none of his questions. The stranger knows who he is, Hanamaki found that fact slightly unsettling. Even if they said they meant no harm. The handwriting was shaky as if the person writing hadn’t written anything in a long time.

He left another note, asking why the stranger was sorry. The strangers' reply came with the next box.

If I tell you you’ll hate me.

//.I.

Well, that’s concerning. Probably against his better judgement Hanamaki kept exchanging letters with .I, Somewhere along the line he started referring to the stranger as .I. instead of ‘the stranger’. 

One faithful day he decided that he wanted to meet .I. He’d been pondering the idea for a while but never quite had the guts to invite him, they’d been talking through letters for a few months. After finding out more things about .I he started to feel like he knew him and that .I was his friend instead of a stranger. They traded small pieces of information, he found out .I liked the colour blue and was very, very shy. Among many other things. In his next letter he wrote;

HELLO .I

Since we’ve been chatting for a while I wanted to invite you into my humble abode! :)   
I completely understand if you’re uncomfy with that, as you wrote in previous letters that you are, and I quote “very shy, easily flustered and zero basic social skills”  
And hey, if you murder me I’d be willing to die for you ;) ;)

//dumbass nr.1

Somewhere along the lines, their conversations had gotten to the point where Hanamaki questioned his intelligence and ability to hold a normal conversation. If these letters got out he’d have to move to some faraway country to live as a mountain goat.

While waiting for a response he continued with his everyday life, going to work, stocking shelves, going home and cooking dinner and his least favourite, sleeping. It had been hard to get a good night's rest since that night, he hardly ever felt well-rested and almost always had some sort of nightmare. 

The responding letter and box came within the next two days. He opened the box expecting another letter but instead, he found a USB. He was at first a little bummed out but after a few seconds of sulking he got up and went over to his bedroom and pulled out his laptop. He plugged in the USB and a file appeared on his desktop, he opened it and burst out laughing. 

On his screen flashed John Cena’s face and text flashing ‘are you sure about that?’ over and over again.

Hanamaki stood up on shaky legs and closed the file. Wiping a tear from his eye as he walked back into the kitchen, still laughing, to write out a response and, eat the profiteroles. In his letter, he confirmed that, yes he wants to meet him.

A few days went by and Hanamaki waited in anticipation. He wondered if he was being too direct with just asking him to knock on his door the next time he delivers the profiteroles and stay and talk with him. 

After he hung up the phone after talking with his parents he heard very soft knocking coming from his front door. He sprung up from his place on the kitchen floor and walked to the door, he tried to open the door as casually as one can while buzzing with excitement. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed with a bit more enthusiasm than necessary but he was excited so who can blame him.

The stranger in front of him was wearing a plain black hoodie and black skinny jeans with a lot of holes around his knees and thighs. The stranger, or .I, was tall, if he had to guess he was at least a few centimetres taller than Hanamaki if he were to stand up straight and not almost fold in on himself, he’d never seen him around before. He was holding a grey box in his hands and he was looking down at his shoes. From this angle, he could see .I’s head of very curly black hair. 

“Hi” 

Hanamaki must’ve died and gone to heaven because oh boy that voice was hot. He continued to smile at .I, hoping it would bring him some sort of comfort, as much comfort as his scarred face could give, or at least make him comfortable enough to look up at him. It must’ve worked, .I raised his head and hesitantly smiled back, including very rosy cheeks. Hanamaki was not going to lie to himself, . I was very cute. With thick eyebrows, sleepy half-closed eyes and slightly more pronounced upper lip and rosy cheeks. .I stretched his arms forward, holding the box of profiteroles in front of him for Hanamaki to take. 

“Matsukawa Issei..” 

There was that small hesitant smile again. He took the box and smiled back,

“Hanamaki Takahiro but I assume you already know that, come in”

He stepped aside and gestured with his free hand for Matsukawa to come in. His parents would probably scream at him asking why he’d let a stranger into his house, not just any stranger either, a stranger that had more or less stalked him. Matsukawa hesitated for a moment before stepping inside. They started making hesitant small talk and soon they were chatting as if they had been friends for ages. .I, or Matsukawa, was as he stated, very shy and blushed really easy and was slightly awkward which Hanamaki found hilarious and thus teased him about it, and to his surprise and absolute delight, Matsukawa had no problem teasing him right back. It was easy to talk to him, the conversation came naturally and hours had passed without either of them noticing. 

Hanamaki looked out the window and noticed it had gotten dark outside, they hadn’t noticed. They were too caught up in their conversation. Looks like Matsukawa noticed it too because he spoke up;

“oh shit it's getting late sorry!”-

He practically shot out of his seat, spewing apologies like his life depended on it, he would’ve continued if Hanamaki hadn’t interrupted him. He probably thought he overstayed his welcome.

“Hey hey it no big deal! If I minded I would’ve kicked you out ages ago! You’re fun company”

Matsukawa looked surprised, as if the concept of someone enjoying his company was thoroughly alien to him, still looking confused he said;

“Well I need to get going anyway- Oh and before I forget here-” he handed Hanamaki something, upon closer inspection, it was another USB, but this one had numbers written on it’s back. “- and thank you” He smiled at him, not like the other shy ones he’d smiled the throughout the evening but a bright genuine smile that melted Hanamakis heart.

They said their goodbyes, exchanged numbers and Matsukawa went on his way. Hanamaki stayed at the door watching his back as he lumbered off.

Deciding that the USB could wait for tomorrow, he saved the new phone number on his phone and quickly got ready for bed and fell asleep. The evening's events played out in his head over and over again as he tried to sleep that night, he drifted off with the images of curly black hair and sleepy eyes vivid in his head. For the first time in months Hanamaki had a somewhat decent nights sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it didn't dissapoint to much lol
> 
> I'd appreciate it loads if you comented what you think of this chapter or the story in general :D


	3. The Video

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Chapter three it up!

Hanamaki lazed around in bed till around 11 pm, it was his first day off in what felt like years so he took the time to thoroughly enjoy it. That was until he remembered the USB and yesterdays interactions that he shot out of bed and pulled out his laptop and plugged in the USB, as the new file was loading he shot out a text to who he hoped was Matsukawa that they should meet up again sometime. While waiting for the file to load he got a response. 

“you haven’t seen the video have you?”

Confused, he looked up from his phone and opened the file, it was a video he clicked on it and Matsukawa filled his screen, he was sitting on the ground with his legs drawn up to his chest, back against a wall and looking at the camera. He wasn’t complaining, he’d already come to terms with his thoughts on how utterly adorable he found Matsukawa and he had no shame when it came to those thoughts, although he wasn’t going to tell that to Mattsun. A nickname he’d assigned Matsukawa an hour into them talking.

He clicked the play button and the Matsukawa on his screen started talking.

“Hey, I know you have a lot of questions and I’m trying to answer most of them here. The reason I couldn’t tell you all this to your face is, knowing me, I’d back down before even telling you the mere beginning of everything.”

Matsukawa looked down and sighed. He sounded so insecure and scared. Those feelings rubbed Hanamaki the wrong way, it made his chest hurt. 

“I thought you might want to know how I know you and why-“ Matsukawa trailed off, took a deep breath and continued.

“I’ll stop dancing around the subject.” He looked at the camera and Hanamaki was horrified to see the pure fear in his eyes, as well as tears. Now slightly terrified for what was next he paused the video and stared at the screen. Matsukawa stared back at him, what could he possibly have to say to make him look so scared. 

Gathering all his courage he un-paused.

“Well, I’ll start with thanking you, and please please please hear me out-“ Hanamaki would’ve done anything if it meant getting rid of the distraught look on his face. Matsukawa took a deep breath and “- I’m the thing you let out” Matsukawa released a sob and buried his face in his knees. Hanamaki couldn’t breathe. 

It must be a joke, it must be, there is no way sweet little innocent Matsukawa Issei was the monster that he let out- 

He stumbled out of his chair, he felt sick. His room was spinning around him, he was hyperventilating, he sank to the ground. Somewhere in the background, he could faintly hear Matsukawa’s- no the monsters faint sobs, but they sounded so genuine. His mind was racing, trying to make everything make sense. 

But it doesn't

Matsukawa was such a shy and gentle creature, how could he have done something like this? His head was still running when he heard Matsukawa start talking again. He must’ve forgotten to close the video.

“I understand if you hate me….. but please hear me out..”

He didn’t want to hear any of it, he wanted to hate him. Loath him with his entire being but he was tired, he heard Matsukawa inhale. He didn’t want to hear it he didn’t want to hear it-

“I don’t know what year it was but I was young, very young, I was living with my mother.”

He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him.

“It was peaceful, my mother was nice, she loved me. One day though, I woke up hearing voices arguing, my mothers' voice was among them.”

Against his better judgement, he started listening to the story.

“The voices got louder, I got out of bed and walked out to my mother, our kitchen was full of villagers, I didn’t know any of them. they were angry for some reason. I hid in the doorway trying to listen to what they were talking about but they spoke a language I didn’t recognize.”

He could hear the fear in Matsukawa’s voice. If he had the energy he’d be disgusted. Matsukawa already murdered 11 people, why was he so scared.

“One of them, the leader I think, shouted something and threw her torch down, and the rest of them followed her lead. Our house caught on fire. My mother took my hand and ran to escape the fire but the rest of the villagers were waiting outside.”

Hanamaki opened his eyes. He should be angry, he should hate him but he didn’t. He doesn’t think he ever did, after all the ‘monster’ had spared him. He absentmindedly reached out to touch his scars.

Maybe Matsukawa Issei wasn’t so bad. Maybe he’d hear him out. He tried to even out his breathing.

“Both me and my mother got burnt by the fire, my mother had it the worst since she was constantly protecting me, my mother ran for the forest and I followed her but the villagers were expecting that so they were there, waiting.”  
Hanamaki could see it. He could see a woman with curly black hair and ruined clothes running with a small child in hand only to be cornered by the angry townsfolk. He looked at his laptop, Matsukawa was curled up in a ball, forehead resting on his knees. He could see the tear stains on his pants. He was wearing the same clothes he was wearing when he and Hanamaki first meet face to face.

“I don’t remember this part well, it's all blurry. All I remember is screaming in pain and screaming for my mother. I remember seeing the villagers parting and seeing my mother lying still on the ground. I-I think she was already dead then, they beat her to death.”

Matsukawa started sobbing again, Hanamaki couldn’t blame him. Just imagining that was enough to make him emotional, let alone experiencing it at such a young age. He wanted to hug Mattsun, seeing someone, anyone, cry like that was horrible. It was like his emotions had done a complete 180, he went from hating Matsukawa to wanting to comfort him. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.

“They dragged me away, I never saw my m-mom again.”

“They threw me around, kicked, punched, stabbed and burned me until they got bored… They got bored when I stopped screaming.”

Hanamaki got up from his place on the floor and sat back down on his desk chair and stared at Matsukawa. How someone could look so beautiful even when crying was beyond him but he didn’t want to ogle him now, not when he was in this state. He checked how much of the video was left and it wasn’t even halfway done.

“They dragged me through a forest, into a building and down many, many stairs. The beating made the dozens of stairs seem like a soft bed.”

Hanamaki stubbornly refused to shed a tear, not until he was sure that Matsukawa had no other ill intentions. Where were all these emotions coming from?

“All I could think about was my mother, I was glad the last thing I said to her was how much I love her... I still am glad for that…  
I don’t know how long I was dragged or to where I was taken but I had no fight left, eventually, we arrived in front of a door. I’ll let you guess which door I’m talking about.”

A sad smile tainted Matsukawa’s beautiful face. He was still not going to cry.

“Thew threw me in, the leader, the same woman who threw the first torch, came in and said something to me. I didn’t understand the language but her posture and face were hostile. The last thing she said I understood, she said;

‘May you never join your bitch of a mother in hell, may you live and suffer forever, in this room you shall stay. ”

Matsukawa sniffled and wiped his eyes. All Hanamaki saw was a small bloody and bruised child laying on its side on cold stone floors.

“She shoved her pitchfork through my stomach and left. I remember hearing the door close and trying to move my head enough so I could see it but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move.”

Hanamakis's mind was blown, Matsukawa had gone through so much and was still so kind and gentle with his surroundings -“I don’t know how I survived or how long I laid there. I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was different. I think I was older.”

Now that was something Hanamaki never wanted to experience, going to sleep and waking up much older. Just imagining missing years of his life was horrifying.

“I was locked in there for so long, all my wounds healed, as well as the broken bones. I was hungry, I missed my mother, I missed her hugs… All I had was a cold metal chair to keep me company. I used to sleep on it but somewhere along the line I got too big for it.. and I think some of my bones healed wrong, my back isn’t supposed to be bent like it is.”

One tear may have escaped, or two.

“I don’t know how much time had gone by, I couldn’t tell day and night apart. I was just existing. After a while I didn’t feel the hunger anymore, my abdomen was numb so it wasn’t so bad.”

Matsukawa’s thought prosses when he concluded that being locked inside a small room with no window, no ventilation and the circumstances of him getting there and him calling it ‘not so bad’ when his stomach started hurting so much his body physically couldn’t handle it was astonishing to Hanamaki. Maybe more than two tears escaped.

“I started scratching my arms and legs as a way to pass the time, I picked at all the skin I could reach, I picked at it so much it bleed most of the time. I have ugly scars all over my body because of that, I even picked at my face…”

By now he just wanted to shower Matsukawa with love, platonic or otherwise. Just show him that he was appreciated, maybe they had only met in person once but they had talked for so long Hanamaki considered him a dear friend.

Lost in thought he failed to notice Matsukawa moving, he was slowly uncurling his long legs and sitting upon his knees. His eyes were red and silent tears still streamed down his face. He seemed to reconsider whatever he was planning on doing for a second, he hesitated before saying,

“I want you to believe me, to not hate me and I can't think of anything else... I’m sorry... I’m not lying I promise-“ his voice cracked and more tears came flooding. Hanamaki was now openly crying with him.

Matsukawa took a shaky breath and slowly raised his arms to remove the hoodie he was wearing. If Hanamaki wasn’t crying already he certainly would’ve been crying now, Matsukawa’s torso was as he said, littered with scars. Ranging from small to the size of Hanamaki’s hand. All scattered around his upper body. Matsukawa was so thin. He could see lean muscles tensing up and before he knew it the hoodie was back on and Matsukawa was back in his original position, curled up with his back against the wall.

“It went on for so long… I don’t even remember it getting this bad. Then one day I woke up to an unfamiliar sound. You- you opened the door, I couldn’t believe it. But then I lost it, completely. The years of being alone in that room all came crashing down on my sanity.”

He took a break to catch his breath.

“The fact that the door was finally open, after so much time wishing for nothing else but to see the light of day again, I was overwhelmed. The first light I had seen in so long came from your flashlight. I wanted to get out so, so badly but I couldn’t move.. and when I finally moved I went crazy, I know I laughed and said things-“ His voice was getting hoarse from all the crying and talking and it was cracking more and more often yet Matsukawa paid it no mind.”- and I know it doesn’t mean much but I’m so so so sorry I put you through that…. And-and…”

He trailed off, if it was forgiveness he was hoping for he already had it. Hanamaki watched Matsukawa curl up even tighter and press his face into his knees.

“I don’t remember much but I remember what I told you... I-I said;

‘May you forever wander in the light,’

My mother used to say that, she said it means you wish this person nothing but the best in life and that they may never turn away the goodness in their hearts.. and I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad! I just wanted to be able to find you again. After that, I blacked out, I don’t remember anything but small snippets of the two weeks after…”

Hanamaki had given up on trying to wipe his tears and had his eyes locked on Matsukawa’s face.

“I remember stumbling out of a building and I remember people saying.. things..”

Things? He had managed to lure out Hanamaki’s once curiosity again.

“ They said things to me, things that the angry townsfolk shouted at me and my mother that day... and I just snapped. I don’t remember anything beyond that. The nest thing I remember is waking up in a tree, the hollow part of an old oak. My clothes, well more like rags, were soaked in dry blood but I thought that was my own.-” more violent sobs ”- it wasn’t.”

Hanamaki grabbed the tissues in his bedside drawer, he needed them and not for the purpose he thought when he bought them.

“I didn’t know what to do, I dreamt of being free for so long I forgot that the world went on without me. I must’ve been locked away for a long, long time because everything was different ”

He picked up his phone and went to send Matsukawa a message.

I’ve seen the video, come over? 

He desperately hoped Matsukawa wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think he was angry at him, the truth was quite the opposite. He sent a second message to reassure himself.

I would never hate you.

“I lived in the old oak for months, maybe years? I tried learning all I could but I didn’t know enough. I looked through garbage for clothes and other stuff I needed and took leftover food from cafes or fast food places. , I finally learned enough to get a job at a small café downtown… that’s where I saw you, at first I thought I was seeing things but I’d never forgotten your face. I didn’t know what to do, a recurring problem in my life.” Matsukawa lifted his head from where it was pressed against his knees. “ and you know the rest of the story”

It took a while for Hanamaki to realize that the video was over, he was a little preoccupied with staring at his phone waiting for an answer, he got it, a soft knock on his front door. The same sound as yesterday.

He shot up and stumbled over all the clothes he’d left on the floor, he was causing a ruckus and he knew the neighbours would complain but it didn’t matter. With clumsy fingers, he unlocked his front door and swung it open.

There was Matsukawa, hugging his arms around his body and looking down. He was wearing the same clothes too. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him before he flung himself at Matsukawa, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him like it was the last thing he’d ever do. He felt Matsukawa tense up, confused.

“W-what are you doing?” his voice was small, confused and afraid.

“I’m hugging you”

He could feel most of Matukawas bones through his thin hoodie. He almost cried again when Matsukawa hesitantly lifted his arms to hug him back and carefully laid his head in the crook of his neck. They stood there, hugging in front of Hanamaki’s apartment at 2 pm until Matsukawa lifted his head and pried himself from Hanamaki’s bearhug. They stood in silence for a few moments before Mattsun broke it;

“Why don’t you hate me?”

His voice was quiet but Hanamaki had no problem hearing him. He smiled at him and answered;

“I never did-“ Matsukawa looked like he was about to interrupt him but Hanamaki shushed him, he wasn’t done talking yet.”- You told me yourself what happened and I believe you. I believe that you’d never do something like that on purpose, we may have only met and talked in person once before this but I like to think I’m a good judge of character and you! My dear friend! You are a gentle giant and would never harm- umph-!”

He stumbled back a few steps as Matsukawa almost tackled him in a hug, he probably would’ve succeeded in bringing him to the ground if he wasn’t so thin. Getting over his initial shock he hugged back with just as much force. He carefully guided them back into his apartment, never once breaking the hug.

Once they were standing in the safety of Hanamakis hallway he nudged Matsukawa’s side, signalling for the hug to end. Reluctantly he let go, Matsukawa reached up with his dirty hoodie’s sleeve and wiped his eyes, still looking down. He did that a lot, look down at his feet instead of looking at the person he was speaking with.

They talked and talked and talked. They talked for hours about everything and nothing, about Hanamaki's new job he was starting in a few weeks to some more of Matsukawas past.

“Hey, when was the last time you had a shower?”  
The moments it took for Matsukawa to remember the last time was enough time for Hanamaki to come up with a game plan.

Get Mattsun a warm shower and clean clothes  
while Mattsun is in the shower cook (warm) food.

That sounded like a solid plan to him, now just to execute it.

“uh.. I don’t know…?” 

Matsukawa phrased it more like a question than an answer. 

“You could borrow mine“ He gestured towards his bathroom. He watched Matsukawa fiddle with his hands before replying;

“ I don’t want to be a bother..”

He was normally a very impatient person but surprisingly he didn’t feel irritated at all at Matsukawa’s reluctance to accept his help. Instead, he smiled and shook his head,

“Of course you’re not a bother, I’ll go get you a towel.”

He waited for a response and received a small nod before walking away to his bedroom, grabbing a towel and heading back. Matsukawa hadn’t moved and was looking at him with his head tilted to one side, hooded eyes watching his every move. The intense gaze didn’t make him nervous, surprisingly.

He walked past Matsukawa and towards his bathroom, he could feel eyes following him. He stopped in the doorway and looked back;

“Did you want a shower or no?” His tone was teasing but in a friendly way as he gestured with his hand for him to step forward, into the bathroom. His bathroom was by no means large or luxurious but it had a bath and shower so he was satisfied. He looked behind him at Matsukawa and raised an eyebrow in a silent question, bath or shower.

Matsukawa meekly gestured towards the shower.

“Great! Feel free to use any of the products, they’re nothing fancy but they get the job done. I’ll leave some clean clothes just outside the door for you, just exchange them with your old ones and I’ll throw them in the washer.”

Matsukawa looked at him, bewildered and Hanamaki vaguely remembered that Matsukawa had been looked away for so long and didn’t know a whole lot about the world and maybe, just maybe, he needed to explain how to use a shower but that wasn’t the case.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

He should’ve expected that. Yet he didn’t know what to answer, why was he being nice to the person who caused him so much grief? There was just something in the back of his head telling him to be nice, to like Matsukawa. The same thing that told him not to hate the creature- Matsukawa. Thinking of Matsukawa as ‘the creature’ instead of a person bothered him. 

“ I do this because I now know why you did what you did and-“ he turned his head to face him ”- you’re my friend.” He smiled and exited the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He stood outside the bathroom for a moment but walked away when he heard the sound of the shower being turned on. He walked into his bedroom and went over to the giant dresser his mother had gifted him on his birthday last year, the thing was at least two meters long and just over one meter tall, it was as stated before, huge. Hanamaki didn’t hesitate when he went over to the dresser and pulled out the highest drawer. His collection of comfy clothes granted it was almost all he wore but it was still special. He rummaged through it looking for the softest and comfiest hoodie and sweatpants he could find. He found what he was looking for and headed back.

He knocked on the bathroom door to get Matsukawa’s attention.

“I’ll leave clean clothes just outside the door for you.”

Hoping he heard, he went over to his kitchen for the next part of his, plan? if you could call it that. Anyway. He opened his fridge and took out some leftovers. It would have to do. Matsukawa was probably sick of junk food though-

Toast!

He threw the leftovers back in the fridge and instead walked over to his pantry. He grabbed what he needed and went to work. A few minutes later soft padded footsteps sounded coming his way, Matsukawa was done just in time for early dinner, well if you could call it that. 

Peaking out from around the corner was Matsukawa’s sleepy face or well normal face, he always had that half-asleep look. If he got to know him better he was sure he could start telling what he was feeling, those small details you start noticing when you’ve gotten to know a person well. He wondered if he would ever know Matsukawa in that way. To lost in thought he missed the worried glance Matsukawa threw his way, still hiding behind the doorway.

Realizing he’s probably being weird he quickly snapped out of his apparent daydream and gestured for him to sit down at the table. He did so and folded his hands in his lap and looked down.

“Keep looking down like that and your neck will end up looking like a vulture!”

It was almost comical how fast his head snapped back up, looking at Hanamaki like he just insulted his entire family. Mouth hanging open and everything. He couldn’t help but laugh and to his utter delight, Matsukawa laughed along with him. He also noted that the clothes he picked out for him fit, which was a definite plus. He’d picked the comfiest and baggiest hoodie he could find and matching sweatpants, Matsukawa looked cute in the faded turquoise. 

“Says the flamingo, if you don’t mind me asking, why is your hair pink?”

“I’m glad you asked!-“ He takes a moment to feel bad about Matsukawa flinching.”-sorry.. I’ve always liked the colour. I finally managed to convince my parents to let me dye it in high school, I liked it and kept it mostly the same throughout the years.”

Matsukawa stared at his hair with childlike wonder, head tilted and beady eyes sparkling.

“Maybe we should dye your eyebrows?”

And boom the sparkles were gone from Matsukawa’s face, replaced by one of those faces that scream ‘oh hell no’. He couldn’t help but laugh.

He served them with the now finished toast and sat down, but then a thought struck him. Could Matsukawa even eat toast? It wasn’t until now he even spared it a thought but, the organs were missing on the corpses after all… something must’ve shown on his face because Matsukawa looked at him weirdly.

Matsukawa was looking at him, beady eyes focused on his face his stare would’ve probably been intimidating it if wasn’t for the slice of toast in his mouth. He laughed it off and bit into his food. It didn’t take long for them to finish. A few moments of comfortable silence later, it was a new feeling, being comfortable in silence. Hanamaki was usually the type who hated the silence and talked constantly.

“Where are you staying now?”

That was not what he meant to say, but it had been on his mind since he mentioned it in the video. Matsukawa looked at him wearily before replying;

“Same hollowed-out tree, I can't get a job that’ll let me rent an apartment with zero knowledge about literally anything.”

He wanted to smack himself, the answer was obvious. Matsukawa had been thrown back into a world that went on without him. A world that kept on developing and by the things Matsukawa said and his manners, he was born a long, long time ago. 

“Are you ok? You look constipated.”

Mulling the plan over once again in his head. He decided to go for it. What could possibly go wrong? Everything-

“Hey uh… I know this is weird but-“ He prepared himself for the worst but hoped, really hoped, for the best.”- since the whole tree situation is going to get hella cold now that autumn is right around the corner…. Would you like to move in? as in here?”

All Hanamakis communication and language skills abounded him right then and there, all he could manage was a clumsy explanation but it seemed to get the point across. Matsukawa looked at him like he was an alien, did he even know what an alien was? 

Matsukawa was quiet for a long time before answering.

“Are you sure?”

He looked down into his teacup as he said it so he missed the smile Hanamaki sent his way.

“Yeah man of course.”

Matsukawa looked back up at him again, the look on his face screaming why are you being nice to me????? He would just need to show him that not everyone is terrible. Maybe he could introduce Oikawa and Iwaizumi to Matsukawa later on. Holy shit he needs to slow down, he’s getting way way too ahead of himself. 

“Yeah, wouldn’t want you to become a popsicle. Or if you’re into that. We don’t kink shame in this household.” 

Matsukawa laughed and Hanamaki laughed along with him. The rest of the evening was spent planning where his stuff would go, convincing Matsukawa that he wasn’t a bother, when he’d move in and of course, how he was going to persuade his landlord to let him get a roommate without a heads up.

He was falling too hard to fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't figure out where to en the chapter but settled on this, hope it wasn't too bad lol


	4. Hana-mama and Hana-papa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR ALMOST KINDA NEGLECTING THIS STORY, I'VE BEEN BUSY CROCHETING A SUPER MARIO PIXEL ART BLANKET.
> 
> Ahem, anyway hope ya'll enjoy it. most of this was written around 1-3 am so pardon me for any mistakes you find.
> 
> I got a spur of the moment idea and thus this chapter was born. 
> 
> ALSO SORRY FOR ANY MISCOMUNICATION in the last chapter! The story is not yet over!! I have many more chapters planned!!!!!!!!

A whole week had gone by before Hanamaki had been able to convince his landlord, an old, sweet lady but sometimes the stick in her ass gets shoved up a little too far, like the week before when Hanamaki had first asked her about getting a roommate. She had flat out told him no. He had to make up some sob story about needing to save money and his job demoted him and yada yada yada. Eventually, she said yes and he brought Matsukawa to sign the contract, Matsukawa had been really nervous, his hands shook so much it was a miracle he was able to sign the lease. He was set to move in in a few days.

Hanamaki was mulling over the last weeks' events in his head when he heard someone knocking on his front door. Thinking it was Matsukawa he gleefully put down the book he was reading and went to open the front door, he was fully unprepared to see his parents standing there. He had completely forgotten that they were going to visit him and stay the weekend.

“Oh don’t look so surprised Takahiro! Are you going to let us in or no?”

His mother scolded with a playful voice. His father laughed and Hanamaki let them in, laughing along with them. They put their luggage down by the couch and took a long look at him.

“Something is bothering you, isn’t it?”

His father has always been able to read him like an open book and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t so sure he liked it. Should he tell them about Matsukawa? Would they hate him for what he did to their son's face and mental health? What if he had to chose between his parents or Matsukawa?! So many questions, some he didn’t know if he wanted the answer to. 

He needed to tell them. For his sanity, he’d always told them everything and he didn’t want to lie to them. He grimaced, excused himself before going into his room and grabbing his laptop and the USB. He kept telling himself it was the right choice but was it? What if he gave Matsukawa this little bit of hope only to have to abandon him because he had to choose? Before he could continue that train of thought he reminded himself that these people were his parents, they were good people and they would surely understand.

By the time he came back into the living room his parents had gotten comfortable, seeing them comfortable, he relaxed too.

Let's see if he could retell Matsukawas's story without crying.

“Well, you see mom, dad. A few months ago I started finding grey boxes outside my door, these boxes- wait hold on-“ he ran into the kitchen and grabbed one of the grey boxes, he’d kept every single one of them, don’t ask why he wasn’t sure he knew the answer himself. He returned to the living room and showed his parents the box.”- these started appearing outside my door. They were filled with profiteroles.”  
His parents were already gobsmacked and they haven’t even heard the worst parts yet. Before he could continue telling the story his father spoke up.

“A stalker? Have you gone to the police?”

“No, and I’ll tell you why. Please listen to the whole story.”

His father looked like he was about to protest but his mother quickly shushed him and encouraged him to continue.

“We raised Takahiro to always think through his actions and we should trust him on this, if he hasn’t gone to the police he must’ve had a good reason not to.”

He smiled in appreciation at his mother before continuing the story.  
“After the first few boxes came I got curious and wanted to know who left them there, I stuck a note to my door and went on with my life. After a few days, I got a response. The person said they were sorry, I asked them what they were sorry for but they didn’t tell me.”

He sat down across from his parents and continued, checking that his parents were paying attention and thanking everything that they were because Hanamaki didn’t think he could say all of this again.

“We started exchanging letters, we wrote back and forth, like small talk but through writing. The person's writing was shaky and littered with errors but it got the point across. I got small pieces of information about this person and we sorta became friends..?” he rubbed the back of his neck, how should he say this. Should he even tell them this? Yes. Yes, he should.

“ Some weeks later I finally decided to act on an idea I had had in my head for a while. To meet the person behind the profiteroles.” He heard his father gasp expectantly but didn’t let up. “ In my next letter I wrote that I’d like to meet them, they were unsure and asked multiple times if I was sure and yada yada yada. After reassuring them over and over again, I finally meet him.” 

His mother had always told him he had a weird way of making friends, this time was no different.

“What does he look like? What's he like-” he got his curiosity from his mother. He held up a hand to stop her, she would get her answers soon enough.

“When I first meet him, around two weeks ago now, he was very shy, like very very shy. Cant look people in the eyes when talking to them shy.” He chuckled at his mother cooing that Matsukawa sounded adorable. He couldn’t agree more.

“We talked for a few hours and he was pleasant company, and he could fire back snide comments and snarky remarks and go hand to hand in a teasing match with me-“

“ He sounds lovely Takahiro! You always said you wished you had a friend who could compete with you-“

“Mom please-”

“Sorry dear”

“As I was saying, we talked for hours and both of us didn’t notice it had gotten dark. He quickly excused himself and apologized like his life depended on it. The idea of someone enjoying his company was completely foreign to him.” He could see his parents displeased faces, they had encountered loads of lovely people who felt that way. He almost doesn’t remember why he was worried to begin with, almost.

“When he left he handed me a USB.-“ He held up the USB.”- I thought nothing of it and went to sleep, and yes before you ask mom I always lock my door.”

“What was on the USB Takahiro?”

He loved his parents dearly, but man did they sometimes drive him insane.

“The USB contained a video. A video where he explained everything.”

“Do we get to see the video?” his mothers' voice was soft, the one she always used when he was upset.

“No I don’t think you would want to do that, the details are very graphic and you know dad can't handle blood.-“ He avoided the pillow thrown his way.”- The video starts with Matsukawa, that’s the guys' name, saying that he recorded all this because he wouldn’t be able to say everything straight to my face.” 

Both his mother and father had gotten quiet. His mother looked constipated but he ignored that.

“He then keeps repeating sorry over and over again, for the entirety of the video he sat curled up against a wall with his knees to his chest, he keeps repeating ‘I’m sorry’ over and over. The next thing he said came like a slap to the face.” Hanamaki took a deep breath and steeled himself.

“He’s the creature I let out.”

He let the sentence hang in the air for a few seconds, when it became clear that his parents were going to hear him out and freak out later he continued;

“In between a lot of crying he told me how he ended up locked in that room, to begin with. A bunch of angry villagers set the house he shared with his mother on fire, when his mother tried to take him into the forest for shelter the villagers were already there. They beath the both of them, Matsukawa was around seven, they beat his mother to death right in front of him.” He looked at his parents faces. His father was close to crying and his mother was not far behind, monster or not his parents felt bad, bless their soft hearts.

“They dragged him for a very long time, they dragged him through town, through the forest and into a building and down many many stairs. When they had reached the bottom of the stairs they beat him up again, until they got bored, ‘they got bored when I stopped screaming’ was one of the worst sentences I’ve ever heard.” He handed his parents the tissue box.

“The woman who started it all shoved a pitchfork through his stomach and said, ‘May you never join your bitch of a mother in hell, may you live and suffer forever, in this room you shall stay.’ And then they left him there. He doesn’t know how he survived or how much time went by, judging on what he told me, he blacked out for a few years, when he woke up his wounds had healed and so were his broken bones. Some of them healed wrongly though, a few ribs and his back is crooked. He thinks the woman cursed the room so the person in there didn’t age as fast as the outside world and was immortal until let out”  
He stubbornly held back tears and kept his voice steady.  
“He picked at his skin to pass time, he has scars all over his body from that. One day though, when he was sitting and scratching himself, he heard a noise followed by the door opening, all the years of being alone in the dark, without fresh air or food came crashing down on his sanity all at once. He lost it and doesn’t remember much, he remembers what he told me though.”’  
“yes you said something about the creature speaking to you but you couldn’t make out what.” His fathers' voice was hoarse from him being stubborn and holding back his tears. He confirmed his fathers' statement.

“I always imagined it to be some sort of curse or something not so nice but, he said, ‘May you forever wander in the light’. It means you wish the person nothing but good things in their life and-“ his voice cracked.”- after that he was homeless, he’s been living in a hollowed-out tree trunk since I let him out.”

His father didn’t look angry but his mother had one last question;

“And what about the people he killed?” 

He had been expecting that question and already had a coherent answer ready if the answer travelled from brain to mouth successfully.

“They treated him like the villagers had treated his mother and him. They had thrown things at him, punched and kicked him, and yelled some of the same things the villagers did, and he blacked out. doesn’t remember anything, he’s only recently started remembering the things I mentioned previously. I don’t understand how he can be so kind and caring after everything he went through but here he is, well not here but you get my point…” He trailed off waiting for his parents' reactions, it took a good 30 minutes for him to wrap his mind around it all and stop freaking out.

“Well-“ His mothers' voice pierced the silence.”- Takahiro you know I don’t believe in coincidences, and if Matsukawa-Kun had to go through all that you being the one to open that door and for you to meet again. It must mean something, and if he is as nice as you say he is then who are we to tell you not to be his friend.-“

“or more we don’t discriminate-“ His mother hit his father over the head.

“To be his friend. Can we meet him? We trust your judgement but want to be sure”

“Uhhhhh, I can ask, let me call him.” 

He stood up and walked into his bedroom, trusting his parents to not snoop around his stuff while he was gone, or call the cops on Matsukawa. His mother had been genuine when speaking. 

“Hey Hanamaki, what's up?”

For the second time that day, he braced himself.

“Hi, well uhh long story short I kinda had to tell my parents about you…”

Silence.

“How much did you have to tell them..?” He sounded scared and it hurt Hanamaki to think that he was the reason for that.  
“Almost everything- wait hear me out-“ He heard Matsukawas sharp intake of breath and feared the worst.”- They’re not mad! Far from it!”

He wanted to keep the confused noise Matsukawa made and set it as his ringtone.  
“They’re not? They don’t hate me?!”

Matsukawa sounded slightly hysterical which was fair enough, he wouldn’t want his worst secret to being outed like this. He hoped Matsukawa agreed with him that this was for the best.

“No no no of course they don’t! They want to meet you!”  
“whAT-“ 

Matsukawa was going to say something more but the sound cut of.  
“Mattsun? Hello? You ok?”

Hanamaki was worried he’d pushed Matsukawa away and was quick to reassure him he didn’t have to meet them if he didn’t want to and that everything had to be ok with him, otherwise nothing was happening. He was about to end the call when the sound came back, Matsukawa had muted his mike.

Matsukawa made a dying noise as he returned.

“Why would they want to meet me?! They should hate me?!”

It seemed that Matsukawa had muted himself to scream into the abyss, he was much calmer now that he was back. Hanamaki was about to reply but his mother beat him to it.

“Oh, course we don’t hate you, sweetie!”

Hanamaki realized that they could probably hear Matsukawas frantic rambling and quickly shut the door to his bedroom.

“I am so sorry-“ he was interrupted.

“Was that your mom?” 

Matsukawa's voice sounded much calmer now, it sounded hollow so he wasn’t sure it was much better.

“Yep, that’s my mother alright.” 

Even to his own ears he sounded sheepish, he apologized over and over again. Matsukawa had gone quiet, thinking.

“Can I come over when my shift ends?... In… 20 minutes.?.”  
“Yeah, yeah of course”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. He put his phone in his pocket and went back to his parents to give them a brief summary of what not to do when interacting with Matsukawa because he didn’t know if he could handle the situation if Matsukawa closed in on himself.  
However, he was not expecting music to be playing when he reemerged from his room.

He’ll buy me a thorn before he’ll buy me a rose

what

be covered in dirt before I’m covered in gold

Was this his mothers' weird obsession with western music making its great comeback? Hanamaki could speak English pretty fluently so he understood what was being sung.

He’s trying it on, yeah, he’s ticking me off 

He started walking back to the living room.

Say what you want but I won’t ever be told

He was just about to round the corner when-

‘Cause I’m in love with a monster

The music was cut off, thank everything. He stopped for a second, thinking, was he in love with Matsukawa? He had a crush yes but was it love? He’d only known the guy for a few months, was that enough time to develop feelings?   
He put on a smile and entered the living room. His parents were smiling innocently at him, he was about to start telling them about Matsukawa when his mother beat him to it.

“Takahiro you didn’t have to hide that!~” She cooed at him.

Faking confusion he asked;

“Hide what?”

His father snorted;

“Your big fat crush on a certain someone.”

“wow ok rude. Maybe I was hiding it, I thought you’d think I’m weird for having a crush on him after everything. Wait how did you know?.”

His mother and father tsk-ed in zinc.

“We trust your judgement, but we do want to meet him. But going on what you told us he seems like a lovely lad.”

“Oh my god, dad please don’t use the word lad ever again.”

“fair enough”

His mother interrupted them. “The way you talk to him and react makes it obvious my dear child.”

It took them a while to go over all the things not to do around Matsukawa and by the end of it, his parents looked determined. He once again counted his lucky stars for having such great parents. Lost in the conversation he almost missed the quiet knocking coming from his front door. He sprung up. His father raised an eyebrow at the quiet sound.

“he’s here!”

He went over to the door and let him in. He could already tell Matsukawa was nervous even before he opened his mouth, he could almost hear his thoughts. Do they hate me? why did they want to meet me? Why, why, why and of course, don’t they hate me?

A quick chat later and futile attempts to calm Matsukawas anxiety later they made their way to the living room. Matsukawa was walking behind him with his head down, guy didn’t care if he could still move his neck by the age of 30 apparently. 

When they entered the room he could sense Matsukawa tensing up and tried to put a comforting hand on his arm but he didn’t know if it helped, he didn’t smack his hand away so it must’ve done some good.

His mother and father were chatting but looked up when he entered with Matsukawa in tow. They smiled and his mother got up, she walked around the small coffee-table and stopped in front of Matsukawa, being careful to let him have his personal space, who looked very uncomfortable and nervous and, as always, looked down at his feet.

*------------------*

“Will he be ok if I hug him?”

“Yeah I think so, just keep an eye out.”

His mother smiled another one of her brightest smiles.

*------------------* 

“Hi I’m Takahiro’s mother, lovely to meet you.”

When Matsukawas head flew up in surprise his mother struck, moving quickly but keeping her movements friendly she hugged him. Poor Matsukawa looked so confused.

“Don’t you hate me?” There he goes again, always assuming people hate him.

His mother huffed a laugh like she thought what he said was funny. Hugging him tighter for a moment, pressing the side of her head against his sternum before letting go. Stepping back to give him room to breathe.

“Of course not, want some tea?”

He couldn’t help but snicker at the confused face and noise Mattsun made as his mother disappeared into the kitchen. His father also greeted him, just not with as much enthusiasm. He waved at Matsukawa and introduced himself, making sure to be friendly and non-hostile.

They had just started talking somewhat comfortably, more like the Hanamakis talking and   
Matsukawa listening, when a sudden shriek startled them all, his mother came rushing in.

“Alright, lovelies! There is a huge clothes sale downtown!-“ she clapped her hands together.”- me and dannasan won't be back for a few hours so don’t wait up!” she rushed to get her purse. Hana-papa chuckled and got up, grumbling about having married such an impatient woman. They almost collided when his mother came almost sprinting back into the living room. His mother quickly rushed around her husband and towards the two boys.

She hugged them both, Hanamaki gladly hugged his mother back but something was holding Matsukawa back, and he was almost sure he knew what. After hugging them both she stood up on her tippy-toes and kissed both of their cheeks before disappearing out the door. Returning their goodbyes and telling them some snacks were ready in the kitchen.

Hanamaki was ready to go and feast but his mother seemed to have broken Matsukawa, he was just standing there, the look on his face saying ‘unfortunately we are not capable to function at the moment, this small show of kindness and affection have caused our servers to crash’. Ok maybe not exactly that but close. He chuckled and put a hand on Matsukawas's back, guiding him into the kitchen to feast on the snacks his mother made.

By the end of the evening, Matsukawa was smiling again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHH hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. 
> 
> please comment I really appreciate it :))

**Author's Note:**

> Ok everyone, first of I want to thank you for reading this. I really enjoyed making this so if you want feel free to request any type of horror story and ship, I'll be more than happy to do rare pairs.
> 
> Anyway the thing i wanted to ask was if you guys want me to make Mattsun and makki a cupple in the end, I've been playing with the idea of making mattsun a friendly, ignoring the people he killen-, ahem. 
> 
> Bottom demon mattsun is what I'm thinking, good idea or a no go. Please let me know


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